The present invention relates to an electronic endoscope system for automatically collecting information regarding usage of an electronic endoscope system.
The conventional electronic endoscope system typically includes an electronic endoscope that is provided with an image capturing element such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) and an endoscope processor that processes an image signal outputted by the image capturing element and transmits the processed image signal to an outputting device such as a display, video printer or the like.
There are various kinds of electronic endoscopes. The various kinds of electronic endoscopes are selectively and detachably attached to the endoscope processor for endoscopic observation/operation.
Generally, an endoscope system including one endoscope processor and at least one electronic endoscope is very expensive. Therefore, in many cases, the electronic endoscope system is used on rental basis.
A rental fee is typically determined based on a usage condition of the endoscope system within a certain time period (for example, a month). However, the conventional endoscope system does not automatically collect information regarding usage of the electronic endoscope system.
Conventionally, a service person periodically visits a facility or a clinic where the electronic endoscope system is implemented to check the usage condition. Typically, a user at the facility etc. informs the service person of the number of patient charts which correspond to the number of usages of the electronic endoscope system. Then, the service person determines the renting fee based on the number of usages, for example, by multiplying the number of usages by a predetermined coefficient.
In the above-described case, the user is required to preliminarily select the patient charts corresponding to, the usage of the electronic endoscope system, which is very troublesome for the user.
In addition, in some cases, the number of the patient charts does not reflect the usage condition accurately since the number of times the electronic endoscope system is used for one observation/operation may not be constant.
Accordingly, an electronic endoscope system or a method which provides accurate information indicative of the usage condition of the electronic endoscope system has been desired.